


The Amazing Tale of Two Silver Spurs and the Best Mascot Ever

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Sahara (2005)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-19
Updated: 2006-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 06:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1637186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      Thanks to sparklewitch for readthrough and inspiring at least one part of this fic.  This is based only on the movie, not any of the Dirk Pitt books, so if anything's off, let's just say it was creative license. <br/>Also, if you want to find out more about the Silver Spurs, UT and Bevo (in his many incarnations) this was the best info I found: http://utopia.utexas.edu/articles/alcalde/hornery.html?sec=university&sub=university<p>Written for packmentality</p>
    </blockquote>





	The Amazing Tale of Two Silver Spurs and the Best Mascot Ever

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to sparklewitch for readthrough and inspiring at least one part of this fic. This is based only on the movie, not any of the Dirk Pitt books, so if anything's off, let's just say it was creative license.   
>  Also, if you want to find out more about the Silver Spurs, UT and Bevo (in his many incarnations) this was the best info I found: http://utopia.utexas.edu/articles/alcalde/hornery.html?sec=university&sub=university
> 
> Written for packmentality

 

 

Dirk loves his school, truly he does. But Al. Al loves the University of Texas to an almost scary degree. Almost like Dirk imagines Al would love a person. Complete and utter focus and dedication bordering on obsession.

"Okay, shirt semifinals! Which of these two T-shirts is better?" Al asks.

Dirk glances up from his spot on his dorm bed, where he's been trying to study for his Shakespeare midterm for an hour while Al pesters him. He barely keeps from rolling his eyes when he sees the shirts Al's holding up. Burnt orange, or white with burnt orange.

"That one," he says, pointing to the one that reads, "Do we not bleed burnt orange?" Al already took the Shakespeare class Dirk's taking this semester. Al was a lot more into it.

Al nods and drops the other shirt on the floor. "I respect that choice. It's a good choice! Now," he says, picking up the lone other shirt on his bed. "This one. Better or worse? Take your time, don't feel rushed. This is a very important night."

"No pressure then," Dirk says wryly. Then he pretends to consider, because otherwise Al will bug him for ten minutes more about taking this seriously. "Al, I gotta say," he says finally, "I'm in a Shakespeare groove today. You gotta wear that one."

The other one is tossed to the floor and Al pulls on the winning shirt. "Thank you, my friend. I knew I could count on you for such an important decision."

"You're welcome," Dirk replies, nodding solemnly.

Al inspects him critically, eyes sliding over his shorts and plain white T-shirt. "You're not going to wear that, are you?"

Dirk rolls his eyes and gives up studying.

* * *

Al insists that they sneak to the ranch in a friend's pickup. He also insists on taking walkie-talkies, just in case. Dirk goes along with it because it's easier, just like he went along with Al sophomore year when they joined the Silver Spurs. He's led Al into enough crazy shit to last a lifetime, so he figures he owes Al.

Their shift starts as night falls. The previous watch, which includes the Silver Spurs president, furtively motions them to come into the barn. Dirk leads the way because Al, in his excitement, probably won't watch where he's stepping.

"Giordino, Pitt," Barry nods to them in turn. "We haven't heard of any plans, and nothing's happened since we've been here, but that doesn't mean you should be any less vigilant. The enemy could be anywhere, and they could strike at any time. Are you ready to undertake this assignment, to keep this haven safe at any cost?"

"Yes, sir!" Al barks. Dirk just nods.

"Good. Your relief will be here in four hours," Barry says. "If anything happens..." There's a long silence. "Well, I wouldn't want to be you."

With those reassuring words, Barry's gone, along with the rest of his watch.

Al wastes no time before getting down to business. "Let's go see what we're here for!" he says, striding away eagerly.

The barn is almost eerily abandoned, ground scattered here and there with clean hay, but empty of horses and even the sound of a nicker or whinny. But there, in the last stall, is Bevo in all his glory, horns extending almost as wide as Al's outflung arms.

"Bevo!" Al cries.

Bevo stares at him impassively and chews on a mouthful of feed.

Al climbs onto the side of the stall and starts petting the longhorn. "Yeah, I can tell you're happy to see me, too."

Dirk grins a little and climbs beside Al. As always, Bevo's gaze follows Dirk and he lows softly until Dirk starts petting him.

"Why you got to be like that, huh?" Al asks Bevo. "You know I'd treat you better. Dirk'd just break your heart, leave you out in a field somewhere and never come see you."

Dirk sighs contentedly. "This is real nice. Peaceful."

Al's head swivels in his direction so quick Dirk's surprised he doesn't hear a crack. "Peaceful? Danger could lurk around any corner!"

"You really think something's gonna happen this year?" Dirk asks.

"Listen to me, Dirk. 1917: Those dirty Aggies commit the first atrocity against the inaugural Bevo. I think I need not speak further of the branding."

"Yeah, but the school ended up barbecuing him, anyway," Dirk protests.

Al looks scandalized. "Don't talk about that in front of Bevo! And don't interrupt me. This is important. 1963: The Aggies strike again, kidnap Bevo VII. 1972: The Aggies play Capture the Cattle **yet again** , this time with Bevo IX. Now we've got Bevo XIII, and it's only his second year. That's gonna look mighty tempting to certain folks out College Station way. We cannot afford to have anything happen on our watch!"

Dirk holds up both hands defensively. "I gotcha. We won't let anything happen."

"Damn right we won't," Al says with a decisive nod. He goes back to petting Bevo until there's a sudden snap from toward the front of the barn, followed by a crashing sound and a yell.

"Stay with Bevo!" Al yells, and charges back the way they came in.

Dirk scans the rest of the barn and checks out back, making sure it's clear on his end. He's torn between staying with Bevo and making sure Al's okay until he hears Al laughing loudly. His curiosity gets the better of him and he approaches quietly, glancing back to make sure Bevo's still in the clear.

"How many Aggies does it take to change a light bulb?" Al's calling as Dirk reaches him. "A thousand and one -- one to hold the light bulb and a thousand to turn the house!"

Dirk looks up, and there's this guy, dangling above their heads, one ankle caught up in a rope booby trap, the same one Dirk had been careful to make sure he and Al hadn't tripped on their way in.

"What the hell?" the guy yells. His face is an interesting shade of red.

"Was that one too complicated for you?" Dirk crows. "I'm sorry. How 'bout this one? A Longhorn, a Baylor Bear and an Aggie are stuck in the desert and can only wish for one thing. The Longhorn wishes for water so they'll stay hydrated. The Bear asks for food so they can eat. The Aggie asks for a car door so that when he's hot he can just roll down the window!"

The guy dangles there with a confused look while Al cackles.

"Hey, there," Dirk says. "I don't suppose you're from A&M, are you?"

"Oh, shit. You guys are with the cow."

"Hey, it's a **longhorn** , not a **cow**!" Al yells.

"Whatever," the guy snaps. Dirk can't blame him. He doesn't think he'd be in the best mood if he'd gone from taking a nice stroll to hanging upside down. "I'm not from A&M. I live here. This is my dad's ranch."

Al crosses his arms. "Uh huh. And I'm just supposed to believe you and let you go."

The guy shoots a disbelieving look in Dirk's direction. "Are you sure **he's** not from A &M?" he asks, looking at Al with something akin to pity.

Al gasps and clutches his chest. "Tell me he didn't just accuse me of being an Aggie, Dirk."

"Now you know how I feel," the guy shoots back.

"You think they'd send one Aggie in alone?" Dirk asks.

Al looks stricken. "Dear God, Bevo! I can't believe you left him alone!" He darts away, headed, Dirk supposes, to the back of the barn to check on their poor, helpless, 2,000-pound mascot.

"Hi," he says to the guy. "I'm Dirk."

"Dennis," he returns, glancing up to his foot. "You mind getting me down?"

By the time Al comes back a few minutes later, face looking mildly placated until he sees Dirk standing there with Dennis, Dirk's found out that Dennis is a junior in high school who wants to go to UT. "I just wanted to see Bevo," Dennis is saying when Al's expression turns aggrieved.

"You let him go?" Al asks Dirk.

"You're looking at a future Longhorn and adamant Aggie-hater. This is Dennis," Dirk says, ignoring Al's question.

Dennis holds out a hand to shake, a mighty big gesture considering not five minutes ago Al had been hurling Aggie jokes at him while he hung upside down.

Al crosses his arms and looks back and forth between them. "Dirk and Dennis, huh? You guys getting cozy?"

"How's Bevo?" Dirk asks instead of answering.

"Who? Oh, **Bevo** , the whole reason we're **here**. Right. I think he's going to be emotionally scarred from Dennis yelling like that and you running away like our mascot doesn't matter."

Dirk lifts one eyebrow. "So he's fine, then."

"Yeah, he's fine," Al mutters. He's still glaring at Dennis.

Dennis is starting to edge away from Dirk before Dirk turns to him and grins big and inviting. "You wanna go back and see Bevo? That's why you came over, and you should get to, considering the welcome you got."

"Sure," Dennis says with a smile in Dirk's direction and an uncertain look at Al.

He follows Dirk back, and Al trails after them, muttering to himself and glaring some more while Dennis takes Al's spot to pet Bevo. Dirk watches out of the corner of his eye while Al taps his foot impatiently.

"Petting time at the zoo is over!" Al yells at last, when Dennis' hand brushes against Dirk's on Bevo's shoulder. He hustles Dennis out of the barn while Dirk chuckles.

Dirk hears Al coming back but pretends not to. Al steps up next to him and shakes his head while Dirk tries to look neutral.

Al opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again. "You do **know** what jailbait is, don't you?"

"I've sure heard of it," Dirk says. Then, guilelessly as he can get it, "Why?"

"I hate you," Al says.

Dirk laughs. "C'mon, man. That was **fun**."

"Tormenting your best friend is never fun," Al says mournfully.

"Are you sure about that?" Dirk slides one hand up Al's side, rucking up that burnt orange shirt and almost holding his breath. They'd made out a couple of times, mostly in high school after parties, when they were drunk. But having seen how possessive Al just got, Dirk's willing to take the chance here, now.

Al shivers a little. "Maybe not," he says.

Dirk pushes at Al's side a little, turning him, but Al's eyes stay locked at one level, staring at the UT 'Horns logo on Dirk's chest. Dirk takes a deep breath, and he watches Al's eyes follow the logo up, then back down.

"C'mon," Dirk murmurs, lowering his head. Al turns his face up in answer and their eyes meet for the barest second before Al closes his eyes and Dirk presses their lips together.

It's soft and slow and so un-Al-like that Dirk almost pulls back to double-check who he's kissing. But just as he's ready to, Al's hands knot in the back of his shirt and he pulls Dirk in closer and deepens the kiss, adding teeth and tongue and some very nice rubbing to the mix. That's Al all right.

They stumble toward a bale of hay, and Dirk pushes Al down onto it, grinning wide at the thought that they're literally about to have a roll in the hay, when Al's eyes suddenly widen. He's staring at something behind Dirk, so Dirk whirls around to look, panicking that maybe someone from A&M really did come here. No one's there, though.

Dirk looks back at Al, puzzled. "What?"

"Bevo's **watching** us!" Al hisses.

Huh. So he is, Dirk sees when he looks back. "So?" he asks.

"I can't have sex in front of Bevo!"

A laugh drags its way out of Dirk's throat. "He isn't gonna tell anybody."

Al looks torn for a minute, looking at Bevo, then turning his attention back to Dirk when he pulls his shirt off and tosses it down.

"I am the worst Silver Spur ever," Al says, and pulls Dirk back down to him.

Dirk goes down with a smile on his face and a whole new appreciation for his school and its mascot.

 


End file.
